Going, going, going, says Kay

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, announced today she will not seek a fourth term. That isn’t so surprising since she took a 51-30 percent thrashing by Gov. Rick “Goodhair” Perry in the 2010 Republican Primary. And make no mistake about it, Kay Bailey Hutchison is a Republican, By God! Her people let me know it in a heartbeat once when I mistakenly put a “D” after her name in a newspaper story. That is really kind of petty when you think about it. It was in a small-medium-sized newspaper and the “real” folks outside the Beltway,  with more time on their hands than sense and who always search for that kind of thing in the paper would have been sure to call me up so Kay’s gestapo needn’t have spent the taxpayers money on such bulls**t.

That’s a bit harsh. Kay’s people aren’t gestapo they are just probably so afraid that Kay is going to whack them with a big stick that they leave nothing to chance.

When you make the rounds in Texas newspapers for a number of  years you are bound to see some politicians again and again. Such was the case with George “Gee Dubya” Bush who I watched before my very eyes transform from a Major League Asshole Baseball executive to governor to president. With Kay, I watched her become Texas State Treasurer and later U.S. Senator. Politicians, I’ve seen a few.

Kay has done some good at the local level, delivering the pure pork sausage so ably she must’ve made Jimmy Dean jealous. That’s not a slam on Kay, that’s actually a compliment. I have also seen her not do what she could do to help at the state and local level, until she was pushed. At the national level, she was a bit to the left of George Bush and John Cornyn, but way the hell to the right of Olympia Snowe. I’m not sure what all is going on with her personally. Pro-choice on abortion, the senator and her husband adopted two children in 2001 so that may have influenced some of her political activity.

Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is called “the 800-pound gorilla in the room” when it comes to replacing Hutchison. We shall see. I would bet on him and half a dozen more Republicans before ponying up on a Democrat. I’m not even sure a Democrat Party exists in Texas anymore. If there is, will you please write? Two of us can be one hell of a force!